Lucky Strike the Moment is Right

White text on a red circle with an outer white, then yellow-green then black outer ring

The American Tobacco Company introduced Lucky Strike cigarettes in 1916, acquiring its name from a chewing tobacco that originated in 1871. In the 1930s it was the best-selling cigarette in the United States, controlling 39 percent of the market in 1931. However, sales dwindled as smokers sought filtered cigarettes. In 1980s Lucky Strike had less than 1 percent of the market. The company introduced a new filtered, low-tar cigarette aimed at male smokers ages 21 to 35 in the early 1980s. In the 2000s and 2010s, the company saw an uptick in sales, which some have tied to the television drama Mad Men. In the show, Lucky Strike is the client of a New York City advertising agency, and the cigarette is frequently smoked by many characters. Lucky Strike sold 23 billion packets of cigarettes in 2007 when the series first aired. In 2012 the company sold 33 billion.